Behind Chicago's new predictive policing unit

CHICAGO — It was a bit like a scene from “Minority Report,” the 2002 Tom Cruise movie that featured genetically altered humans with special powers to predict crime.

In October, the Chicago Police Department’s new crime-forecasting unit was analyzing 911 calls for service and produced an intelligence report predicting a shooting would happen soon on a particular block on the South Side.

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At IACP 2010 in Orlando, chiefs of police learned how predictive policing can help in the decision-making process for deploying law enforcement resources.

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Three minutes later, it did, police officials say. That got police Supt. Jody Weis thinking. He wondered if the department could produce intelligence reports even quicker. Next time, officers might have an hour’s notice before a shooting — instead of just a few minutes.